The iPod Anthology
by ill0gical
Summary: OO8. Suigetsu's iPod: Suigetsu wasn't about to cause an argument in one of Karin's rare non-temperamental moods. He grinned toothily and nodded, "I didn't know you were scared of anything…" "I'm not."
1. Love the way you lie

**The iPod Anthology**

**Notes: **This came out of like, _nowhere_, man. Oh, and beware of ze fluff.  
**Dedication: **To skipping school, and "Sincerely but Never Yours" by 'Alive in Wonderland', because it's just _the_ best. It also gave me the idea for this little anthology of sorts.  
**Disclaimer: **If I owned Naruto… Sasuke would be a jonin in charge of a little gang of tiny, cute, adorable, miniature team seven. But I don't. So he's emotionally corrupt. Which is cool, I guess.

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**OO1: SAKURA'S IPOD. **

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Sasuke _stared_ at the small, rectangular, _pink_ device in his palm.

"What… _is_ it?" He asked his green eyed companion. Sasuke decided that he was already a little suspicious of this… thing. It would light up whenever he touched the circular white pad in the centre of it, thus creeping him out to no end.

It had to be some sort of _bomb_. Yeah… that's what it was… Sakura's revenge machine. For leaving her unconscious on a bench when she was thirteen, immediately after she had told her that she loved him.

"It's an iPod, silly," Sakura smiled softly, plonking down onto the weathered picnic bench next to Sasuke as the two waited for Naruto and Kakashi to finish their spar, so that they could have a turn without killing anybody, "it plays music." She handed him one of the white earphones. He took it, and placed it into his ear as Sakura had done, then stared at her blankly.

"I'm not hearing anything."

"Well, of course not," She laughed airily. Sasuke leant into the light sound – it was calming to him. Not like when she was that weak, twelve year old genin's laugh: Obnoxious, over confident. "I haven't pressed 'play' yet, you dummy." Sasuke sent her a small, sidelong glare.

"…I knew _that_."

"Psht, sure you did."

"Tch."

"Now, listen to this, it really reminds me of you," She smiled again, "Before you came back."

Sasuke visibly winced. He knew it was something like this. Something that would just make him feel all awkward and want to apologize, but we all know that Uchiha Sasuke _does not do_ apologies. None the less, Sasuke stayed silent and awaited the torture of the accusing words.

'_Just gonna stand there and watch me burn  
__But that's alright, because I like the way it hurts.  
__Just gonna stand there and hear me cry  
__But that's alright, because I love the way you lie.  
__I love the way you lie.'_

As the female sung, Sasuke listened carefully, trying desperately to ignore Sakura's soft humming from where she sat next to him. As far as he could remember, he never set her on fire (at least, not intentionally. There was that one time during the fourth shinobi world war in which Sasuke had katoned everything in a two hundred metre radius, but he was sure that he'd only grazed her arm with a lick of flame), and he _knew_ that she didn't like being in pain. Though, physically, he was sure that she could handle it.

Ah, but then there was the second part. He knew that that had something to do with him. The little guilty snake in his gut was squeezing everything inside off him.

He _had,_ quite literally, just stood there and listened to her cry (he couldn't face her, not when her eyes were looking like Niagara Falls) as she begged him to either stay, or to take her with him. He'd left her with only a 'thank you'.

He'd given her no hope of any future that might come. But that was because he, himself, had not been sure that there would be any future for the two of them. He went to Orochimaru unsure of if he'd even make it to Itachi, because he was blinded by his anger, his hatred.

Sasuke had never lied, though. Not to Sakura. He may have avoided a few things with other people, but he would never lie to her. She knew the worst things about him… the things that nobody should ever have heard about. She was the one who had held him in his weakest moment, when Orochimaru had bestowed that wretched cursed seal upon him. Sakura had _been _there.

When had he ever been there for her? Sasuke realized that he was suddenly extremely ungrateful towards her, and glanced at the kunoichi beside him.

Sakura felt Sasuke's heavy gaze on her, and she looked up. She beamed at his seventeen year old face. It was worn by the weight of things that shouldn't have ever been forced upon him. The mass of a clan's burden; the misery of his mistakes; that magnitude of hatred that seemed to consume him at every turn…

So many hurts, so many scars.

He really didn't deserve any of it.

'_You ever love somebody so much_  
_You can barely breathe_  
_When you're with them_  
_You meet_  
_And neither one of you_  
_Even know what hit 'em_  
_Got that warm fuzzy feeling_  
_Yeah them chills_  
_Used to get 'em  
__Now you're getting' fuckin' sick  
__Of lookin' at 'em?'_

Sakura listened to Eminem's words. She adored this rapper. Other's were all about sex, drugs, and gangs. But this rapper… he spoke about _life_. And the more and more she listened to his songs, the more she thought about Sasuke. Everything in this song described them. Him, and her.

She remembered the times where she felt so much love for him that she could barely speak about him without feeling her lungs contract. She guessed that she still kind of had that these days… it's just that she was so much more mature, and Tsunade shishou had smacked rule twenty-five of shinobi conduct into her pretty pink head that Sakura barely even noticed these feelings. She knew that they were still there.

He knew that they were still there.

Kakashi knew the most: He noticed the way that Sakura was so gentle with the young Uchiha, and the way that her inner fighting spirit didn't seem to come out so much around him. When they sparred, she'd spend slightly longer on healing any of his injuries than she would Kakashi or Naruto.

A slightly longer time healing him, that was unnecessary.

Sasuke had turned away from Sakura by now, and was just listening to the rhythmic words of the rapper. He could remember the second time that he'd met Sakura when she had intended to kill him.

He remembered, with a venomous glare at the floor, his own thoughts about murdering the pinkette at the time.

But neither of them could do it. Sasuke was the man that could be surrounded by two-thousand chunin level enemies, and have them on the floor dead or dying within the space of five to ten minutes. He could have killed Sakura using his sharingan, she'd been looking into it the whole time. Trying to see how much he'd changed. But every time he'd tried to summon Amaterasu, he'd get this painful sinking feeling in his chest.

For months, he'd blamed it on his health, for the Mangekyou took a lot out of him, but he knew that his slowly shattering, blackening, disappearing heart, that he simply couldn't bring himself to hurt her.

The song ended, and Sasuke and Sakura sat in a quiet, thoughtful silence. They absently watched as Naruto was sent flying into a tree by Kakashi, not really taking any notice of anything but the blue skies and the green trees. The orange and silver blurs were barely noticeable through Sasuke's dazed mind.

"Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"Did you see?"

"See what?"

"See what I meant, when I said that the song reminds me of you." Sakura asked softly. Sasuke thought for a while longer, then removed his earphone and handed Sakura back her iPod thing.

"I… guess…" He said slowly. Sakura hummed slightly at his vague response. Sasuke continued, "It brought back some memories."

"What memories?" Sakura asked, leaning back and sunning herself. Sasuke also leant back, though the picnic bench wasn't exactly _comfortable._

"The bad ones."

"No good ones?" Her voice asked, almost apprehensively.

"No good ones." He repeated.

"Why not?"

"Because… I wasn't with you… I was against you." He said slowly, the sun making him speak lazily, tiredly. Sasuke thought lamely that he sounded rather defeated in that last sentiment.

"Ah," Sakura replied. And there was silence again, except for the clash in the background and the birds singing their miniature lungs out. "Did you… mflrfr."

"Huh?" Sasuke asked, slightly amused at her embarrassed mumbling. He hadn't heard that for a good four years.

"Did you ever… miss me?" She asked. Sasuke froze. The warmth of the sun couldn't help him. "I'd understand if you didn't, I mean, tch. Who would miss this babbling freak with pink hair? The girls in Oto must have been so much more attractive and… they must have had a lot in common with you. Working under Orochimaru, you know?" Sasuke picked himself up and stood so that he was looking down at her now bolt upright form.

"I thought about you." He said, smirking. It wasn't his usual hard, sadistic smirk. It was soft, it was close to a smile. Sakura stared up at him, slightly afraid, slightly confused, but mostly just dazzled by his honest sentiment.

"You did?"

"Yeah, I thought about Naruto, and Kakashi, and you. Not often," He admitted, turning his head so that he wouldn't see her expression, "But when things got a little… I don't know…" He searched for a word. Or rather, he had a word, but the Uchiha could not bring himself to let the word 'scary' fall from his lips. "When things got hard, you were there. Yeah." He said. And then he bent down, and pressed his thin, pale lips to her forehead.

Then he picked up his sword of Kusunagi – he'd never let it go – and made his way home. All the while, his perfect, white teeth were showing from behind his smiling lips.

And Sakura? She stayed at the picnic bench, her fingertips brushing over her forehead.

It was her childhood fantasy come true, and all she had to do was get Sasuke to listen to some Eminem.

Huh. That would make life interesting. Sakura smiled to herself, ignoring the knowing look that Kakashi was giving her as he and Naruto walked over for her to check any severe injuries they might have caused one another.

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**OO1: SAKURA'S IPOD /End.**

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**Notes: **Questions? Suggestions? I'll do any pairing, except for ShinoxANYONE. Shino has his lil' buggies. Anybody have a song that totally fits a certain pairing? My best are SasuSaku, NaruHina, NejiTen, ShikaTema, and KibaIno. Thanks a lot for reading, and don't forget to drop me a review! (:


	2. We R Who We R

**The iPod Anthology**

**Notes: **I know you creeped this last time, that's why I have alerts. But don't hit and run me! I like reviews and love and warmth! Just like I love coffee and cake and snow in the winter. It's gonna snow Wednesday! Heck yeah.  
**Dedication: **To KE$HA, because she's a freak, and she's beautiful, and she rocks the vodka shots. And also because she's just SLIGHTLY better than Lady Gaga. Also, to coffee, because I have come across the revelation that it puts me in a good mood.  
**Disclaimer:** Not mine. Never will be mine. ILY KISHIMOTO-SENSEI.

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**OO2: INO'S IPOD.**

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Starting at the top, she brushes her long, _long_, blonde hair, then messes it up a bit. She coats it in hairspray, so that her curls stay, and so that it remains knotty looking and hardcore for the rest of the night. She smiles at her mirror. Ino picks up her cell phone, she briefly checks the time.

It's almost eight.

She rushes her make up, rimming her big, beautiful, baby blue eyes with kohl and layering her already long, dark lashes with black, waterproof mascara. All the while moving to the feel-good tune of KE$HA's 'We R Who We R'.

This song, she felt, described her perfectly. Ino brushes some sparkly, black dust over her eyelids, as well as swiping a light pink gloss over her soft, pouty lips. She smiled widely at herself and sang right along to the lyrics:

'_Got that glitter on my eyes,  
__Stockings ripped all up the sides!  
__Looking sick and sexy-fied,  
__So let's go-o-o, let's go!'_

She pulls on her cropped, black leather jacket, imported from Germany by her father, who loves to spoil her. It goes over her baggy black-and-white striped shirt that hangs over her tiny denim booty shorts. She slips on her silver pumps, and smiles at her boyfriend. He smiles back.

"You look beautiful, Ino." He says. Her smile widens.

Ino surveys his own outfit, from the white converses to the washed-out grey skinny jeans and plain, white t-shirt that his upper arms were just begging to be freed from. His brunette hair was gelled and scruffy, and she could easily imagine his smell. He'd smell like the autumn bonfire he'd asked her out at. She sags slightly at the memory.

"You don't look so bad yourself, Kiba." She replies, and reaches up to peck his cheek, "Now come on, we're going to be late!"

Kiba laughs.

_Honestly, this girl. _He allows himself to be dragged to his own car. Unlocking it, he pulls the passenger door open for her. She comments on how like-a-gentleman he was being tonight. He gives her that wonky grin that suggests he's fond of her teasing. She looks away.

That grin always makes her blush.

Kiba grabs her chin, and _makes_ her face him. He leans over the gear stick separating them, and places his lips on hers. The kiss is soft, slow, barely there, but filled with more love and tenderness than any of their friends at this stupid party would ever know.

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**Notes: **I've been listening to 'We R Who We R' for a period of four straight days now. I had to do it. And this one sucks major balls and is less than 700 words, but I _really _like KibaIno. So shush, but, do, please review. **x3**


	3. First Try

**The iPod Anthology**

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**Notes: **Panic! At the Disco – This is Halloween. Listen to it. _I_ did. (;**  
Dedication: **This is for Cheska, because we have the best bitch-fests in the world. Haha, I doubt she'll read this unless I force her to, but whatever. She's a babe. Worship her.**  
Disclaimer: **I'm disclaiming, already!

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**OO3: SASUKE'S IPOD.**

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He had his headphones in, just like any other teenage boy, as he walked down the high street in his Nike's and grey skinny jeans. His perfect features were, as they always were, kept impassive, even as he passed many of his adoring fans from school.

They used to be bothersome to him, however, now, Sasuke tended to ignore them. All of them.

If there was a project, his attention would be focussed solely on the computer, and he'd taught himself this wonderful technique of blocking noises out.

Then, when he was fourteen, his brother bought him an iPod Nano for his birthday. It was red and black, and Sasuke was fascinated by it. The more he used it, the less he had to use all of that _effort _to block out the annoying girls.

And sometimes Rock Lee too, but that guy loved _everybody_.

So like, right now, Sasuke had the Panic! At the Disco album 'Pretty. Odd' blaring into his ears as Ami squealed and waved.

"Sasuke-kun! Who knew you of all people would turn up here?"

"Hn. It's Starbucks." He muttered, passing her while she almost shrieked about how _the _Uchiha Sasuke had spoken _words_ to her. The tall male inwardly facepalmed.

Sasuke wondered occasionally what it would be like to be ugly, or uncool, or dorky, but not often. The thing was that he _liked_ the attention. He was a _singer_, a _performer_ in the band that he and his friends had created a few years back. Sasuke loved the way that people would crowd around when he appeared – it's just that he liked it better when it wasn't Ami and her crew, or some other psychotic bitches.

Sasuke liked Naruto's girlfriend and her friends. Naruto's girlfriend, Hinata, would simply give a word of congratulations or a soft 'well done' before moving on.

He liked the way her other friends would also stutter their greetings, and not act scarily over-confident, or they were taken by _his _friends.

Hinata had one friend, though, that Sasuke may or may not have had a stronger liking for than any of the others for. Sakura, her name was, she was that little geek who always sat at the front of the classroom. She had her hand in the air the whole time. Her attendance record was perfect. She didn't seem to care too much for boys, and rather focussed on studying for her… was it a medical job she wanted?

Whatever.

Sasuke didn't pay attention to these things.

He passed the counter where the waitresses were quite literally turning redder than a cherry slushy, and to the table of colourful people, with colourful hair, and colourful jokes.

But he didn't really notice any of them, his dark eyes drifted sideways to the girl in the soft green hoodie with the pink hair.

"Sasuke's here!" His blonde male friend exclaimed, "Here man, I got you a coffee. It's still hot." The rambles were drowned out by Panic at the Disco, and Sasuke's default way of ignoring ramblers.

He did, however, gratefully take the coffee that he walked all the way into town for, and slid into a seat next to Sakura so that he could converse with her.

Not exactly… converse… but share a headphone, as they always did.

He'd learnt, in the last month or so, that Sakura didn't like screamo, but she did like the soft stuff and indie that he listened to. He supposed that that was okay – not _all_ chicks like it hardcore.

"Hey, Sasuke." She greeted – she was always quieter around him.

"Hey." Sasuke replied: an actual word.

"How've you been? I haven't seen you around in a while." She asked, not looking at him as he took a sip of his cappuccino.

"Nowhere, it's been cold." He said, taking off his scarf, to make a point. Sakura nodded, holding her coffee cup closer to herself.

It wasn't coffee, it was hot chocolate. Sakura didn't like coffee.

"I see. You haven't missed much."

"No?" He questioned, not really because hew was interested, but because he - for once - _wanted_ to speak to her.

"No."

"Ah."

The two of them leant back into the sofa at the same time, relaxed by the usually awkward small talk. Sasuke turned his head to smirk at her. Just because. And Sakura giggled lightly, her laugh was infectious, and Sasuke almost found himself chuckling.

Almost.

Once her giggling died down, Sasuke continued to stare at her sideways. She tried to keep her face straight, but her cheeks were betraying her, and her lips curving up into that glamorous smile that she wore all the time.

"_Stop_ that, it's freaky!" She whined eventually and leant forwards to hide from him.

Without really thinking, Sasuke caged his arms around her and pulled her back up, hugging her.

What the eff?

Sakura struggled slightly, laughing breathlessly in his arms, until she realized that he had in fact just pulled her onto his lap, and was indeed now chuckling at her. Like, for real.

"You're so annoying." He sighed eventually as her giggles subsided once again.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Sakura cried, hugging him back.

Sasuke merely smirked. Without breaking eye contact, he held up a headphone for her. She took it and placed it in her ear.

The song was ending, it was the last verse, but it was the verse that Sasuke liked the most out of the whole song, he would have sung along to the words, but he kind of hand Sakura shifting between his legs, and now leaning on his chest as the two of them sat on the brown sofa in Starbucks, their friends pretending not to notice them.

'_I am feeling good  
And I'm singing in my sleep when you're around; will you comfort me?  
I'll dream of you  
And the smile that you give to me  
You give to me…  
You give to me…  
You give to me…'_

And then the song ended.

"Sasuke, I love your iPod." Sakura turned, with her chin on his knee, and grinned.

"I know."

"I know you know." She said, sagely. Sasuke almost rolled his eyes. He took back what he said about her being quieter around him. She'd gotten a lot cockier since he'd last seen her.

"Hn."

"Oh, and by the way, I missed you." She added, turning back around, and clicking through his other tracks. Sasuke smiled at the back of her pink head.

And then he felt eyes on him, and he froze. He turned to look at Suigetsu and Naruto, and Kiba and Neji-douchebag.

"…What?" He asked, uncomfortably. Suigetsu mimed cracking a whip, and Sasuke smirked.

He was so going to get them back. Later though. When Sakura wasn't lying on his chest in the cosy coffee house and when everything was a little less perfect.

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**Notes:** Can you say OUT OF CHARACTER? I tried, okay, really. I tried. Please review, and don't mind any parts that don't make sense – it's very hard to get into Sasuke's head, as a lot of other writers here will know. Please review, at least one? DDD:


	4. Firebomb

**The iPod Anthology**

**Notes: **Long time no see. I've been working on a NaruHina chapter for a while now, but they're so cute that it's really difficult. However, in the mean time, I worked out this little beast. I really wanted to write something action-filled for a while, so here it is...  
**Dedication: **To Christmas, and Naruto Shippuden episodes, and reading Alex Rider at ridiculous times of the morning!  
**Disclaimer: **I wish I did, but I don't. So go away. ):

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**OO4: SAKURA'S IPOD.**

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The sound of bullets being fired from shotguns follows us, him and me. They slam into the back of the truck, glass shattering over the seats, over us, like some million and one tiny diamonds.

But we fuckin' love it. It's the way we live – dangerously. It's like... a sick addiction: the adrenaline you get from facing death and flipping it the finger.

We're hypocrites, some might say. We protest against war proposals – that will essentially bring death – by blowing up those hideous buildings where the rich men in fine clothes come together to discuss how to take the rest of the world's money.

I'm the genius behind the bombs, and he's the crazy fuck with three minutes to get out of a building before it's blown to shit, or go with it.

Two minutes...

Thirty seconds...

_Come on, come on..._

He throws himself into the passenger side of the truck, the exhilaration and excitement evident on his beautiful face. I laugh like some kind of mad scientist before stepping on the gas and allowing the truck to lurch forward violently so that we aren't caught in the blast.

Seven seconds. God, his smile's adorable. I'm not even sure if he's aware that he's wearing it. But I don't mention it, just in case he wipes it off.

Five seconds. We raise our palms once we reach the clear zone.

One second. The clap of our hands is the only sound to hear before the almighty roar of the bomb echoes over the city, and the disgusting, political building is wiped off of the face of the Earth.

Our fingers are still joined, and our faces are tinted orange for a moment, and he sighs at the sight of the fire, but his grip on my hand doesn't lack its usual hardness. In fact, he's holding on tightly. The flames continue to burn into the sky, his lips twitch up again in that same soft smile that he gets when he sleeps.

The fire... makes him feel calm.

But he's still cold, and the large hand I'm holding in mine is still squeezing tightly, he's trying to control his shaking. The adrenaline rush that he loves so much, it always comes back to bite him.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I ask him.

He nods and breathes out, "Yeah..."

I don't believe that he knows what he's saying.

There's peace, and the car is silent. Outside, we can hear sirens and the sound of several helicopters hovering over us. Sasuke suddenly snaps out of his trance.

"We have to move, now, girl." He tells me, voice hoarse. I nod.

And so we're off again, running from the cops planting bullets at our wheels.

But of course, _of course_, they're missing.

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**Notes: **I realized that this would probably fit Deidara and Sasori more, but I can't write Yaoi, I get this urge to go all out smex when I even _try _it. I also don't think this made a lot of sense, it was just me trying out a new genre. Anyway, I hope you liked it. The song that inspired this was Firebomb by Rihanna, uh... I just thought it fitted. And since Sasuke's all Katon and suchlike, I thought it would work. Uhhh, there was something else. Oh yes, I think of Sasuke as a sort of pyromaniac. Pyromania is one of the most interesting mental illness' I have heard of, and, well, yeah. That's all. I hope you enjoyed this, tell me what you thought!


	5. First Date

**The iPod Anthology**

**Notes: **Sigh. Thanks to the curse bestowed upon women-kind, I have been sent home from school. LOLHOWEMBARRASSING. But, ferserious, it's not cool at all. However, it does give me time to write, and chill. Kay, now that I've creeped you all out, let's continue. :) **  
Dedication: **Uh… um… to the Naruto Abridged series that I have been watching all day. LOLWIN.**  
Disclaimer: **…Boo. You whore.

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**OO5(?): NARUTO'S IPOD.**

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'_In the car I just can't wait__  
__to pick you up on our very first date__  
__Is it cool if I hold your hand?__  
__Is it wrong if I think it's lame to dance?__  
__Do you like my stupid hair?__  
__Would you guess that I didn't know what to wear?__  
__I'm too scared of what you think__  
__You make me nervous so I really can't eat,' _

Naruto mused to himself that this was exactly how he was feeling right now, as he slipped his orange iPod into the back pocket of his jeans.

_Hinata, Hinata, Hinata. _

He grabbed his keys from the shelf by the door, as well as staring at himself in the mirror before leaving. He ran a hand through his absurdly spiky blonde hair, and fixed his shirt, nervously.

_Since when do I get nervous?_

He plugged his music player in, so that the whole car was a concert, and he was in the thick of it all.

But the words were making him think. Like, what if he _did_ miss his first kiss. Oh shit, what if she didn't even _want_ to kiss him? Or worse, _fainted_? The blonde shook his head of the thought. Hinata would be fine. Everything would be fine.

But it was his _first date_ and he was the class clown, and she was the shy artist. How the crap was this going to work out? He sighed, parking on the side of the road, and getting out of his car.

He leant closely to the white door and pressed his finger to the doorbell as gently as possible. He felt that, with Hinata, everything had to be done gently. However, the door was flung open and a flurry of inky blue and purple flung itself into his arms.

"Quick, quick, Naruto-kun, we have to get away before my parents notice I'm gone!"

Naruto needed no further pushes, for he knew what Hinata's father was like. He was big, and scary, and had lilacy eyes, and he was Neji's _uncle._

"Uh, right. Well, come on." He couldn't help it, he laced his fingers with hers and led her to his car, opening her door and letting her in, before jogging to the other side and getting into it himself. He laughed lightly. "So, you're dad's against you going out with me?"  
"Uh, n-no," Hinata said, her stutter returning now that she had calmed down, "he doesn't exactly know. He-he thinks that I'm out with the girls."

"Ah, that's alright. Um, any music, you like? I'm into everything, here," He handed her his iPod and started the engine.

Hinata let out that soft giggle that had made Naruto first look her way, and chose one of the songs from Paramore's new album, Brand New Eyes. It didn't matter which one, he wasn't really paying much attention, he was too busy questioning her on how her day had been and such, so as to avoid any awkward conversation.

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The two arrived at the local leisure centre, and made their way down to the bottom level of the building, where the ice rink was. Naruto had found out that the Hyuuga girl had always liked ice skating from Sakura, his first crush.

He'd always had a thing for Sakura, but when stupid Teme had casually asked her out, and the two had been spotted making out, Naruto began to think of her less and less like a love interest, and more like a little sister.

And then Hinata had appeared. And he began to notice all these little things about her that made him feel like he wanted to be closer to her.

The way that she would always tap her two fingers together when in his presence – it was so cute! Then there was the way that she stuttered and giggled – like a little pixie. He just adored her.

His tan hand reached out and took hers, and he grinned nervously. "I'm paying!"

"N-n—"

"_Yeeees_…"

"Uhm, okay, Naruto-kun."

"Heehee," Naruto grinned.

As long as he'd attended Konoha High, it had always been _Sasuke-kun_ this, or _Sasuke-kun_ that. But now, with this pretty little elfin princess, he was the special one.

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They'd been on the ice for about an hour or so, when Hinata's skate hit a chunk of uneven ground and she'd almost been sent toppling.

Almost, because Naruto had managed to pull an epic – even if he did say so himself – move before catching her and spinning her around.

Okay, so he felt like a gay ice dancer after he did it, but he still saved his damsel in distress.

"You okay, Hina-chan?" He asked, his breath tickling her face. She opened her mouth to answer, and then closed it. And then opened it again… and then closed it. Like a goldfish. A bright pink goldfish. "Hina-cha—"

"Nhnh…" The lilac eyed girl moaned before falling limply in his arms.

…_OH SHIT, I KILLED HER._

"Gyah! Hina-chan, Hinaaataa-chyaaannn…!" Naruto whined, shaking her. They were right on the edge of the rink, so that was okay, but still. He was panicking. "Oh… gawd…"

After another moment of glancing around for help, Naruto felt the little girl moving against his chest. A second later, she was sitting bolt upright and begging for his forgiveness.

"Gomen, gomen, gomen!" She squeaked, bowing her head with each syllable.

"…YOU'RE ALIVE." The blonde Uzumaki boy cried, pulling the violeteen against his chest and holding her there tightly, "I thought I killed you. I was freakin' out, oh my god. You're alive!"

"I-I-I… I have awful circulation…" She smiled shyly against his jacket, taking in his scent. She moved back just a little and hid her face behind her hands.

Naruto, on instinct caught a hold of her thin little wrists and pried her fingers away. He leant down slowly, praying that she didn't pass out again, and matched his lips with hers.

* * *

**Notes**: Long time and no update, ne? I'm sorry, sorry, sorry. I started this an age ago – I think before Christmas or something, and I just got completely cramped. NaruHina is very difficult to write since their personalities are polar opposites and it's just. IT'S JUST HARD, OKAY! Thanks for all of the reviews, everyone. Give me prompts, characters – anything! I can assure you that this won't take as long as it did last time. Lovessss. Oh, and the song was Blink-182 "First Date" I LOVE IT.


	6. I Love You 5

**Notes: **Came up with this one whilst doodling.**  
Dedication: **To sunny days and hot chocolate; skipping school and playing Devil Kings.**  
Disclaimer: **I ONLY TRIED TO SMUGGLE IT ONCE. Naruto isn't mine.

* * *

**OO6: TENTEN'S iPOD.**

* * *

Hyuuga Neji is a beautiful person, okay? I've known him since we both started, like, elementary school or something. He was always close to me. I mean, so was Lee, but he was… not so beautiful. The three of us were tight, y'know? Tight like when you link your two pinky fingers together. Best friends forever and ever and ever.

Well. That's what we used to say.

We're in high school now, Neji and me. We're in different classes – he takes all of these hypo-confusing lessons whilst I sit around in the doss classes. Like health with Kakashi. Laugh out loud ex-dee. I never see the Hyuuga boy anymore. Only when Momma Tenten demands that he skip his stupid kendo classes to come and eat dinner with us. He does it, though. He secretly loves my cooking. I don't _care _if it's a little crispy! Neji… Neji likes packet noodles _just as much _as he does herring soba or whatever it is. Just as much as I liked him.

Okay, there, I said it. Just go away, please.

I know you're not gone. Go. Away.

NO, I WILL NOT TELL YOU— you'll beat me with a what? A spork? Why don't we all just stay calm about this situation. Please, sit, and I shall feed you noodles. Oodles and oodles of noodles! …Oh. You don't want my noodles. Fine.

Since Neji and I stopped talking as much as we used to, I think we've sort of begun to miss each other. Like, you know I said I order him around for food? We don't always eat. Sometimes, we'll just spend the whole night talking. Sometimes, he'll read his physics essays out to me. I find it really boring, but I listen anyways, because I know that I won't be able to speak with him afterwards.

And then, one time, as I was reaching for a plate in the kitchen, I stumbled backwards into him. Nothing unusual there, just Tennie being a klutz. Teehee, that word's fun to write. Anyways, he caught me, and then he steadied me and then he let me go – just like any gentleman would do. And then he kissed me.

What the eff?

WHERE DID THAT EVEN COME FROM?

It wasn't a really dramatic one, it was just sort of him spinning me around by my elbow, him calling me clumsy, and then him patting my hair back into place and then… BLAH.

And then I was like, "You kissed me," and I grinned like Phoebe when Mike first kisses her. Or… was that Rachel and Ross? I can't remember. My TV died a few weeks ago and Sasuke and his electrical skills have been too busy with Sakura. And Sakura's boobs. Ew, horrible mental pictures. Eeeeew.

So anyway, and then Neji was all like, "I did."

And so I was like, "So, what now?"

And he bit his lip and replied with, "I have to go. I'll see you around, Tenten."

What the fudgemuffins is with that? He just… kisses people and then leaves? What is that? Did he mean to? Does he like me? Or was it just one of those "in the moment" type of things?

I don't know, and I don't really care, because I have been _awkward _over the whole situation. But now, I was going to sort things out.

I tapped in my e-mail address to the box where it belonged on the MSN screen. My fingers stabbed at the keyboard with the password: iateabigredcandle (which is a pretty adequate password, in my opinion) and then I waited as the little green and blue men spun around each other.

What were they doing, anyway? Were they dancing, or talking to each other. MSN is a chat facility, so why would they be spinning around in circles whilst talking to each other? That just makes me think of teenagers all over the world circling each other like lions about to fight. No wonder there's so much cyber bullying going on in the world!

So now that I was logged in, the contacts began to load. I watched them, waiting for one name in particular.

**Sasuke.**

Okay, two names. I double clicked Sasuke's name, bringing up the chat box.

**Tennie is a sexy mofo! Says: **cheer up emo kid. when are you gonna fix my TV?

**Sasuke. Says: **Never if you keep calling me "emo kid".

**Tennie is a sexy mofo! Says: **gfkys. it's a perfect nickname for you. you really kind of have to because my television is dead and i'm forgetting the lines in FRIENDS and it's all your fault because you don't want to fix my baby.

**Sasuke. Says: **Fine, whatever. I'll see when I'm free.

**Tennie is a sexy mofo! Says: **they say "sasuke don't stop, you tha' bestest!"

**Sasuke. Says: **What the fuck.

**Tennie is a sexy mofo! Says: **psh, lil wayne? i can make your bed rock? obviously. you should listen to better music, sasuke-kun.

**Sasuke. Says: k**.

I hate "k.". Sasuke hates "-kun", though, so I guess I could understand why he blunted me. Noobface. I closed the conversation with him, knowing that the emo child wouldn't say anything more – though, his display picture was adorable was him and Saks, and she was on his lap, and he wasn't looking at the camera because he thinks that he isn't photogenic – but he is freakin' tasty in most pictures! – and Sakura seemed to be coaxing him to look at the camera.

Haha, young love…

Oh, crap. I found Neji's online ID. Hm, these boys are so creative with their screen names. I clicked him, carefully tapping on the keys with what I wanted to say. Should I put "hi"? No, that sounds as if I'm mad at him. I'll put hey. Two e's to make me sound happy? No. I need to have a very serious talk with that young man…

**Tennie is a sexy mofo! Says: **oi, hyuuga, your name sucks.

**Hyuuga Says: **Good.

Well, this was going to plan.

**Tennie is a sexy mofo! Says: **WE NEED TO TALK.

**Hyuuga Says: **I need to talk to you.

Oh, thank goodness, he'd been thinking about what happened too.

**Hyuuga Says: **Oh. Go ahead.

**Tennie is a sexy mofo! Says: **ok, well, you know what happened at my place?

**Hyuuga Says: **…

**Tennie is a sexy mofo! Says: **right. well. the dots are always a good sign. anyway, yeah. um. what the hell was that?

**Hyuuga Says: **I don't know. It just happened.

I glared at the screen. Motherfucker! He didn't even give anything away! He just… rammed on in there and blunted me. You ass, Hyuuga Neji, you ass.

**Hyuuga Says: **What of it?

**Tennie is a sexy mofo! Says: **i don't know, i like you maybe, you moron? jeez, i thought you had good eyesight. i hate you.

OH. BALLS. NO. I hadn't meant to send that. Fuckadoodledoo.

**Hyuuga Says: **What?

Don't you dare make me type that again!

**Hyuuga Says: **It says the message couldn't be delivered at this time.

**Hyuuga Says: **Tenten?

**Hyuuga Says: **…?

**Tennie is a sexy mofo! Says: **ILYKBYE.

And then I signed out, my palms sweaty, and made my way to the kitchen of the apartment that I shared with my much older friend, Anko. She just so happened to be in the kitchen with her cell phone in her hand and a stick of dango in her mouth. She took it out when she saw me.

"What's the matter with you, kiddo?" She questioned.

I looked up at her, "Nothing." I replied.

"Somethin' is. Tell me about it."

"No, I don't…" My phone began to vibrate in my pocket. I switched it off, "I don't want to—"

"Who was that?" Anko cut me off, her brown eyes narrowing slightly.

"That was nobody."

"That was somebody…" She said, bluntly, "Was it a guy? Did they hurt you, Tennie?"

"Yes, no."

"Then why'd you hang up on him?"

"Because I don't want to talk to him, m'kay?" I snapped, then hung my head to apologize, "I'm sorry Anko, I just… I have a lot on my mind."

Anko opened her mouth to ask me what the matter was, when her iPhone began to ring in her hand.

_I love you one, a-two, a-three shoo-bee-doo,  
I love you four – that's more than I can afford,  
And I can tell, someday, that I'm gonna say the truth:  
I love you five. _

"Your ringtone sucks." I told her, reaching for one of her miniature dango treats. She glared, and twisted my wrist around instead placing her phone in my palm.

"You will speak to him." I looked at the caller ID. _Neji_.

"I—"

"Now." She added.

I glared, hitting the answer button. "What do you want?" I bit out.

"I like you too?" The voice said on the other line. It was unsure and apprehensive.

"What?"

"I figured the L in ILYKBYE can be interpreted as "like" as well as "love". And I know you don't like to use the word "love" so I guess you… meant that you like me?"

"Uh. Awkward~" I sang.

I heard him smirk on the other line, "Heh," He chuckled, "I don't see you so much anymore, and it's made me realize that I tend to miss you when I don't hear from you, or see you. And I've… been thinking. A lot, and you're kind of always on my mind. Ever since your place… I don't know."

"I know what you mean," I replied, relief washing through my entire body. My heart was either not beating at all or was beating so fast that it was about to sprout legs and climb out of my mouth, "um… do you want to meet up? Anko's here and this is… slightly awkward."

"Okay."

"Okay!"

"Okay, I'll see you at the park in about ten minutes, or something."

"Okay!" I repeated, smiling uncontrollably. I hung up, grabbing my favourite red hoodie and slipping it over my t-shirt with the mushrooms on it. I stuffed my feet into my favourite black Converses, tugging on the legs of my red skinnies to sort them out. "I'm going out for a bit, Anko!" I told the brunette cheerfully, and booked it out of the door before she could make any of her stupid "lover" comments.

Anko was annoying like that. Sometimes. She was a babe for taking me in. She was nineteen, in college, and could barely afford to pay for herself – hence why we ate so many noodles – and yet, she offered to take me off of my aunt's hands. I was a troublemaker to my aunt, of course. I was a troublemaker to anyone, except for Anko.

My aunt still paid for me and my clothes and my share of the rent, but I would never get over how someone so young could be so charitable to a fifteen year old. It just goes to show: there are still good people in the world.

My heart was starting to do backflips and my stomach performing somersaults as I caught sight of the park gates. That meant that I was almost close to Neji. Ohmigodohmigodohmigawd.

"Hey," His voice called from behind me.

I turned to greet him and his pretty eyes and pretty hair and slightly awkward stance, I breathed out, "Hey. You scared me. I thought you were some psycho killer out to get me. Or something like that."

"Huh, I'm not that bad," He chuckled, coming to stand about three feet in front of me. "So, I don't want to do an over-dramatic speech or anything, but Tenten, I'm sorry if when I kissed you, you got confused and the rest of it. I didn't mean to do that – just leave."

"I'm over it." I told him, throwing a hand over my shoulder to prove my point. "It doesn't matter now."

His lip twitched up a little in a smile, "So,"

"So, what now?" I questioned.

Neji glanced up from his sneakers and looked me dead in the eye, his Hyuuga confidence rolling off of him in waves, "So. You wanna go out?"

I grinned widely, flinging my arms around him as if he'd just proposed marriage, "Yeah, I wanna go out!" I said, giggling when I felt his arms pull around my back. I jumped and he pulled me up onto his hips. My arms were linked by the hands around his neck and he was holding me against him by the backs of my legs that were crossed around him. My giggles died out and my face went adequately straight as I stared into his light, lilac eyes.

He was so pretty. "I'm going to kiss you." I told him, smirking a little.

"Go ahead," He replied. And so I did. I pressed my lips against his, feeling him also smirk a little.

And, somehow, everything was perfect.

* * *

**Notes: **Lol, Neji never _did _understand online chat very well. Anyways, that's a NejiTen chapter FINISHED! And boom, may I just say that I love Tenten very much indeed and I think she is quickly becoming my favourite character? Okay. Anywho – REVIEWREVIEWREVIEW! I got such great reviews last time, they really did make my day! Thanks, everyone!


	7. What I Go To School For

**The iPod Anthology**

**Notes: **Shit guys I fell off the face of the earth.**  
Dedication: **To picking yourself up and pushing yourself to go on, even when it feels like the light at the end of the tunnel genuinely got blocked up by a rockslide or something.**  
Disclaimer: **Not mine~~

* * *

**OO7: KIBA'S IPOD.**

* * *

"Good morning class," Asuma-sensei drawled as he strolled lazily into the room filled with thirty seventeen-year-olds, not one of them paying attention to their teacher's entrance. He sighed heavily, dropping several large, green files onto the front desk and turning to face the latest trainee apologetically.

Her youthful face smiled back a little awkwardly, dark blue eyes turning to survey the class while her fingers played with her long, blonde ponytail. She wore stylish, light grey skinny jeans and cream flats with tiny, black bows on the front of either one. She also had on a white t-shirt, though it was partially covered by a thick, grey cardigan.

A few students had now turned to survey this new fish, their eyes curious and calculating. Asuma-sensei tried again, "Oi, everyone." He said, his voice stretching this time and bouncing off the walls, silencing everybody. The dark haired man continued, "I have some good news for the lot of you; first of all, as a lot of you know, my wife, Kurenai – Kurenai-sensei to some of you – is going to be having a child in a few days, so I've got leave for a couple of weeks." A few of the female students cooed before allowing their sensei to continue, "Ino-sensei will be taking over this English class while I'm away—"

Somewhere, within the middle to back rows, a messy haired brunette who had been scraping his name into his desk with a biro looked up out of faint interest. His eyes hit the young-looking blonde woman and he almost fell out of his chair. She _couldn't _have been a teacher! She looked about _eighteen_!

"Thank you, Asuma-sensei… well, yeah, I'm Ino – erm, sensei. I'm a trainee teacher, actually; this is a part of my course. I'm looking forward to be helping you with your studies. I hope you'll all be helpful and behave whilst your teacher is away."

"_I will if you will_." Some perverted, slithery voice called from the corner of the room. The messy haired brunette shot the direction of the voice a murderous look before folding his arms coolly and sitting comfortably once again, folding his arms across the desk.

Beside him, Sasuke Uchiha made a faintly disgusted sound, "Trust the _nerves _of some of the jerks in this school."

"Totally…" The brunette agreed.

For a moment, neither of the boys said anything. "Wanna move to the front, Kiba?" Sasuke asked.

Kiba nodded, "Yup."

In unison, the pair of them scraped their chairs back and strolled to an empty central desk, sitting down and folding their arms. Ino-sensei seemed to flush and flapped a tiny hand in front of her face, "My, it's good to see that you're keen…"

Sasuke smirked and closed his eyes before glancing sideways at his friend and raising his dark eyebrows. Kiba smirked back, eyebrows raised identically.

Asuma left a short while after, but not before leaving Kiba and Sasuke with a suspicious glare. The lesson that followed mainly involved Ino-sensei trying to learn the names of everyone in the class followed by a few friendly talks about university life and what she wanted to teach. She promised that tomorrow they'd all get to work on their Romeo and Juliet project.

At lunch, the girls cornered Kiba and Sasuke. "You totally like her." Sakura hissed at Sasuke dangerously.

"No," Sasuke corrected her slowly, "_Kiba _does."

"You better not be messing me around Sasuke," The pink haired girl threatened.

Sasuke rolled his eyes before taking his girlfriend's wrists and pulling her so that her waist was in line with his knees as he sat atop an outdoor lunch table, his feet on the bench-like seats. He eyed her, "I'm not about to mess you around, Sa-ku-ra." And with that he kissed her gently on the nose. A few of the surrounding girls gave sounds of adoration out of the couple's cuteness. "Besides," Sasuke repeated more seriously, "I don't even like her, Kiba does."

The brunette chuckled, "As if, she's a member of the staff. She just has one a_wesome _rack. And her ass is like, perfect. She's got a cute face too. And her voice is… really sweet."

There was a short silence before Sasuke snorted, "See? He's whipped already over Yamanaka."

Kiba chuckled the teasing off, but a moment later, his eyes caught sight of the blonde trainee carrying the three green folders from before along with a mug of what he supposed was coffee and a set of car keys jangling from one of her fingers.

Being a gentleman, the messy-haired brunette took his leave from the group of terrorist females (Tenten and Karin) and gross couples (Sasuke and Sakura). He managed to catch up with her somehow and ended up walking beside her.

"Oh, hey," She said, her voice slightly out of breath, "you're Kiba, right?"

"Correct, Ino-sensei."

"Oh god, I hate that, just Ino, please."

"Ino…" Kiba grinned, "You want some help with all that?"

Ino stopped and turned her head, her dark eyes grateful, "Yes, thank you."

Kiba pulled the three heavy, green folders from her slight arms and held them comfortably, "You're welcome." They walked for a short while in silence, heading for the parking lot. Kiba, king of suave, finally overwhelmed by the silence, said, "So like, how old are you, exactly? I mean, I don't mean to be rude at all. You're like, the youngest teacher here – everyone else is getting on ancient!"

Ino giggled a little bit, "I'll be twenty in two months; I'm nineteen." She pressed a button on her keys and, as the two grew nearer to a small, red Clio, the boot opened itself. Kiba settled each of the folders into the almost empty space – the only other thing taking up any room in the tiny compartment was a gym bag. "Thank you very much, Kiba."

"Like I said, you're welcome. So, I'll be eighteen in a few months… you wouldn't want to hang out one day, would you?" The brunette grinned charmingly as he closed the boot with a loud 'thump'.

Ino pressed the button on her keys once more before sliding them into her jeans pocket and taking a hold of her coffee mug with both hands. She peered over the top of it and into the eyes of her smiling student, "Jeez, Kiba, you know what? I'd like to, but I mean, I'm a teacher and—"

"You're a trainee," The brunette corrected, "come on, it'll be fun. This weekend, I'll take you to Suna's _best _theme park."

Ino spun around in her little cream coloured shoes, "Ooh, don't tempt me!"

"Sounds like I already have," The messy haired teenager grinned toothily, whipping out his phone, "what's your number, Ino? I'll pick you up…"

* * *

Kiba showed up at the block of university apartments the next Saturday, his eyes focussed on his phone as he reached the door to Room 38 of the B block student homes. He knocked twice before he heard the sound of footsteps and the door unlocking. Ino appeared wearing a pair of light, ripped denim shorts and a tight purple t-shirt with some ancient band name scribbled on it in faded lettering. Her long, long blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail on top of her head with a single bang hanging down. Kiba grinned at her, his own form clothed by a pair of black board shorts and a loose white t-shirt.

"You ready to go?"

"All set~" Ino said cheerfully, the brunette grabbed her hand and the two of them sprinted down the stairs of the apartment block and out onto the street where Sasuke's kindly leant Audi awaited them. "Wow, is this yours?"

Kiba smiled dumbly for a moment before his eyes travelled away from hers and he admitted, "…No." Ino laughed as she slid into the spacious automobile whilst the Inuzuka teen held the door open for her. "Watch your face, sensei!" He grinned down at her before closing the door and jogging around to the other side of it, he slipped into the driver's seat and buckled up sensibly before starting the engine and driving off under the warm, morning sun in the direction of Suna.

The two spent the day in the sun; their cheeks aching both from sunburn and from laughing at each other so much. Kiba flicked a small amount of ice cream onto the blonde's nose and in turn received his entire cone being shoved quite brutally into his face.

Ino collapsed hysterically onto a bench, her eyes tearing up from laughing so hard. Kiba stood before her with an unamused look on his ice-cream-coated face. He whipped his t-shirt off causing Ino to silence her laughter while he wiped his face of the substance. "Am I clean?" He asked a second later, his wide grin returning.

Ino giggled, "Come here, you've got a little bit _here_," She said, her finger on his jaw, "and _here_," her finger moved to an imaginary substance, pulling his face an inch closer to hers, "and a little bit…" She trailed off as their lips touched softly, closing her eyes and smiling gently against his mouth before pulling back, "there, all gone."

"You're really cute," Kiba grinned, but his face didn't move away from hers, "unfortunately, Ino, you've got a bit on you now."

"Oh, have I? Where?"

"Right there," The brunette's fingertips touched her chin, bringing her head up and closer to his until their lips met again, this time with a little more force and much more wanting of the other. Ino's tiny hand rested itself once again on his jaw whilst his fingers dropped from her chin and took her free hand in his.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a much slower pace. The pair didn't stop holding hands all the way through the park, even on any rides that they decided to go on. By the end of it, Ino had decided that she really liked Kiba.

And Kiba, well, he _really _liked Ino.

"I don't know if this can carry on during school, though," She murmured, her voice almost sad on their way back in the car.

"That's understandable," Kiba admitted reasonably. The last thing he wanted was for Ino to be taken off of her course for fraternizing with one of her students – that was like, the ballsiest rule of the lot.

"But, I mean, next weekend we could do something." She said hopefully.

Kiba nodded happily, "Of course we will. I had an _amazing_ day today, Ino."

"Me too…" She murmured sleepily. Kiba reached across and squeezed her shoulder. "Haha, the sun's gotten to me. It always makes me sleepy."

"And all that walking, that must have tired you out quite a bit."

"Yeah…" The blonde yawned.

"Sleep if you want, I'll put on some music." The Inuzuka teen grinned, his hand reaching for the iPod plugged into the jack for the car speakers. He hit play. The next words that sounded in the intimacy of the car could have been coincidence, or perhaps, it was just the kind of thing Kiba had wanted Ino to hear.

_'Her voice is echoed in my mind,  
I count the days 'til she is mine.  
I can't tell my friends, 'cause they will laugh:  
I love a member of the staff._

And I fight my way to front of class  
To get the best view of her ass.  
I drop a pencil on the floor -  
She bends down and shows me more…

_That's what I go to school for  
Even though it is a real bore.  
You can call me crazy,  
But I know that she craves me.  
That's what I go to school for  
Even though it is a real bore.  
Girlfriends, I've had plenty -  
None like Miss Mackenzie,  
That's what I go to school for,  
That's what I go to school for.'_

* * *

**Notes: **Aw Busted just put me in a brilliant mood. That was "What I Go To School For" by Busted, by the way. I don't know anything about teacher's courses or university or ages or anything so I hope you can all understand that. Omfg KibaIno though ULTIMATE FLUFF hkjsfgjsdjgs. See, I was in a really sad mood before I started this, now I'm amazing. I hope you enjoyed this! Thanks for reading and please leave me a review~


	8. Curse Of Curves

**The iPod Anthology**

**Notes: **Guys I'm having such a shit time thinking of what to put in my other fics. Omfg. Ugh. Omg I'm going to end my life just continuously filling this anthology whilst thinking of what I can do omfg.  
**Dedication:** To fancy-dress parties, and how you're never too old for them.  
**Disclaimer: **Naruto isn't mine. I'd make Sasuke kiss Sakura if it was. I would MAKE IT HAPPEN.

* * *

**OO8: SUIGETSU'S IPOD.**

* * *

The white haired teenager was slumped in one of the dark grey sofas in the middle of Sasuke's living room, a small scowl had settled itself across his pale lips and his arms were folded moodily across his chest covered by a purple Escape The Fate band shirt. His dark grey skinny jeans were spread out and he glared lazily at his drunken friends.

"I thought you said there were going to be girls here." He muttered when he felt their gazes on his ripped jean covered knee.

"There are going to be girls here. Naruto's told his girlfriend to bring them. And if I know Tenten," Neji said sensibly – he, Sasuke and Suigetsu appeared to be the last remaining sober entities in the room, "she will not let Hinata come here on her own."

"Girls are so weird…" Naruto suddenly spoke up, scratching his blonde mess of hair lazily, "they always have to do everything in, like… packs… don't they?"

Kiba snorted, "The wolf pack!"

Suigetsu shook his head as the boys laughed, "Nah, nah, nah, the girls are the _fox _pack, 'specially with Ino leading it."

A round of agreement seemed to sound from the boys, they all murmured Ino's name as though it were sacred ground. She was the hottest thing they'd ever seen: tall, with long blonde hair and legs that went on for days and nights and months and years and decades. She also had these _perfect_ baby blue eyes that pierced into every man's soul when she turned to look at them.

The only problem with Ino was that she would never date one of them. The only one she seemed to have ever had her eye on was Sasuke… and he turned her away, just like every other girl he'd ever had.

Well.

That was until he'd met Sakura. But Sakura didn't really throw herself at Sasuke. Suigetsu had noticed that Sakura didn't really throw herself at anyone. She was this _hot _rocker chick, she matched Sasuke to a tee. She was never out of her skinny jeans or her tank tops. Her hair was choppy and bright pink – her little Bambi eyes were bright green and surrounded by thick, black eye makeup. But she was totally Sasuke's type. _TOTALLY._

Sasuke was just too stuck up to admit it. If there were a tree for prickishness, Sasuke would have fallen from the very top and hit every branch of _awkward, arrogant _and _obnoxious _on the way down. Unluckily for the rest of the boys, he hadn't fallen from the ugly tree as well.

Sakura's best friend was Karin. The two were inseparable. They were both absolute rockstars, but they wouldn't have known it if it hit them with the force of a train.

Karin was tall and skinny, but with glorious hips and a v_ery _entrancing ass. She constantly wore leggings and strappy high heels. They were _her thing_. She also appeared to _live _in her leather jacket with the studs on the corners of the collar. She was _so hot_. Although Suigetsu would admit _this_, there was nothing w_orse_ to him than Karin's personality.

Holy shit, the woman was a bitch! She seemed to truly _loathe _Suigetsu for no reason. And the thing was, Suigetsu actually kind of _liked_ her bitchy attitude and her obtuse way of pushing him away from her. He played with it. It entertained him.

Maybe if she wasn't such an utter c_ow _to him, he'd have considered making friends with her. In the end, they had a lot in common. They both hated people. That was enough.

And besides being a bitch, Karin was violent. She was literally almost as bad as Tenten – ah, Tenten, Hyuuga's little psycho. All of them were psycho, Suigetsu mused, but Tenten was just… something else entirely. She made Neji quail in fear during certain moments. She was also a true tomboy; which also proved that after years of speculation, Neji was, in fact, the gayest member of the group – which was okay.

Suigetsu totally supported gay rights. And even if Neji wasn't gay – which he was. Tenten was his cover up. For sure – Suigetsu also supported bisexuals. SO IT WAS ALL OKAY!

Who else was there? Belonging to the _fox pack…?_

Ah, of course, Naruto's little China doll, Hinata. At least she wasn't as crazy as the rest of them. She was really cute, except her ghostly lilac eyes which matched Neji's… and at least she kept Naruto's irritating squawking muted when she was with him.

…Everyone kind of… _had _someone.

Naruto had Hinata.

Neji had Tenten.

Although he didn't actually _have _her yet, Sasuke did have Sakura. There was way too much unresolved sexual tension between the two of them. _Way too much_. It had to come apart sometime soon. And by sometime soon, Suigetsu suspected this evening. In Sasuke's bedroom. That bastard.

Kiba could get Ino, in fact, he was planning to this evening whenever the girls decided to show up. He'd had a crush on her for ages and since Sasuke had rejected her, she'd found Kiba to be exactly her cup of tea.

OH GOD NO. That meant that the last person left for Suigetsu was… he gulped at the thought. Oh no no no no no no no…

Well, he supposed he didn't need anyone. It was just that… if his friends all got girlfriends… he'd be… well, the odd one out. And so would Karin. And he knew how easily girls got depressed when they were alone and all their friends had boyfriends so…

Wait, what? Boyfriend? Him? To _Karin_?

Suigetsu shuddered.

"The fuck is with you?" Sasuke asked his white haired friend. Suigetsu glanced up to answer but was, quite literally, saved by the bell.

_Ding._

Sasuke rolled his eyes and pulled his body off of the sofa, strolling out of the room. A few moments later, the loud sound of a group of girls giggling sounded, along with the clinking of glass.

Oh, so the girls had brought alcohol with them. Tonight would be interesting then. It seemed that they had the same ideas as the boys did. The small party gathered in the living room, the girls cooing loudly whilst doing their silly huggy-greet thing.

"Sui, you grumpy prick, come say hello!" Naruto called. Well, it wouldn't hurt that much, would it? To say hello to the - he gulped again - TO THE GIRLS, not just Karin, all the girls. Yeah. Wouldn't hurt at all.

He pulled himself up from the squishy corner of the sofa in the same fashion that Sasuke had moments before and went to greet the buzzing girls. They all took their turns to hug him, make polite small talk – in the teenager way.

After all of the… teenage formalities were out of the way, the group settled down once again in the lounge.

Suigetsu found himself back in his comfortable corner… with Karin sitting beside him. Her arms were folded over her chest in a similar way to his and her black, wet-look legging-covered legs were crossed classically over each other.

"Look at Sasuke and Sakura," She murmured… Suigetsu assumed it was to him, since Naruto and Hinata sitting beside the two of them appeared to be having their own whispered conversation. His amethyst eyes zeroed in on his best friend and the dark haired male's female company. Sasuke already seemed to have his arm around the back of the sofa – the classic "hi let's get it on" smirk on his face and a small glass of vanilla vodka and coke in his other hand. He didn't like sweets, apparently, but Sasuke rarely passed up vanilla vodka and coke.

Sakura was curled in, her shoulder under the crook of his arm with a similar drink in her hand and her legs pulled up to her chin. They were _so _going to fuck tonight. Totally.

Kiba slipped down onto the soft, carpeted floor beside Ino after jamming a DVD into the player and setting the huge, only Uchiha-affordable flat screen to play the film.

"What are we watching?" Sakura asked to the group.

Kiba responded, "Jason Goes To Hell."

"W-what?" Hinata burst out, "It's not scary, is it?"

"It's really old, it's not scary," Naruto assured her.

"Oh good," She murmured, shifting closely to her.

The film began, Suigetsu cleared his throat and settled himself comfortably beside the redheaded Karin. She seemed to relax at his calmer vibes, her muscles stopped being so tense and her arm slid gently against his. "You have to protect me if I get scared okay." She hissed, but she seemed gentler than she usually was - it must have been the alcohol.

But Suigetsu wasn't about to cause an argument in one of Karin's rare non-temperamental moods. He grinned toothily and nodded, "I didn't know you were scared of anything…"

"I'm not."

"Oh."

"But everyone else has someone to cling onto so. That's my excuse."

"You've given your secret away now, Karin…" Suigetsu teased, flicking his white hair out of his purple eyes.

Karin rolled her own scarlet eyes at him, a teasing grin was returned.

Well. This was going better than expected.

* * *

"Um. I have to go to the bathroom." Sakura announced later that night, jumping up from her seat. "Right now."

"I have to, er… show Sakura to the bathroom." Sasuke added, standing up and following her.

There was a short silence before Ino yelled after them, "DON'T GET HER PREGNANT SASUKE, I'LL CUT YOUR BALLS OFF IF YOU DO, I SWEAR."

A collectively agonized groan issued from the males in the room, "Harsh…" Kiba chuckled.

"I knew they were gonna do it tonight. I knew it."

"WHO SAID WE'RE DOING ANYTHING?" Sakura's voice rang from halfway up the stairs followed by a deep chuckle from Sasuke and a low giggle from Sakura before their feet thundered up to the second floor… and again along the landing, it sounded... and the second set of stairs… the third floor was where Sasuke and Itachi's rooms were. There was a bathroom on the ground floor.

Suigetsu smirked, "Like I said, I knew it."

"Oh my god, those two." Karin said disbelievingly.

"They're so—" Ino began, but didn't ever really finish,

"They were always down to fuck." Naruto grinned.

"Naruto!" Hinata scolded, she didn't like it when he swore.

"Sorry, Hina-chan." The blonde cooed.

"Oh, lord, it'll be you two next." Karin groaned at them as they nuzzled each other.

"I think it'll be you and Suigetsu."

"WHAT?" The snowy haired teenager and his redheaded friend cried in unison. They stopped and looked at each other for a long moment, Karin's questioning red eyes lazering into his glittering purple orbs.

Then they both huffed and looked away from each other. "Hmf."

"As if, Suigetsu's the last person _on this earth _that I'd get with!" Karin giggled, a joking hand landing on his thigh to let him know that he mustn't take her words seriously.

Suigetsu shook his head, grinning lightly, "Whatever, whatever, say what you like. I need a cigarette." He said, getting to his feet and skulking into the kitchen, whipping his blue iPod out of his pocket and shaking it to demand another song.

_'I've got the gift of one-liners_  
_And you've got the curse of curves._  
_And with this gift, I compose words,_  
_And the question that comes forward:_

_Are you perspiring from the irony?_  
_Or are you sweating to these lyrics?_  
_And this just in, you're a dead fit -_  
_But my wit won't allow it._

_The inside lingo had me at hello,_  
_And we go where the money goes._  
_The inside lingo had me at hello,_  
_And we go where the money goes._

_I want someone provocative and talkative,_  
_But it's so hard when you're shallow as a shower—'_

"Yo, Suigetsu." The hard voice of Karin called through the darkness outside, the summer air was warm and the cigarette smoke seemed to linger in the air for the longest time, that tempting scent just dancing above his head, "Do you want to lend me a cig?"

"_Lend _you a cig?" Suigetsu repeated, an amused smirk twitching on his lips. His mind skipped back to the lyrics playing from his iPod directly into his ears as he watched her feminine silhouette draw nearer and nearer, her perfectly curved hips swaying with her high-heel swagger. "I've barely got enough for just me."

"Aw _go on_, Sui," She smiled at him, her scarlet eyes glittering as she batted her thick, black eyelashes. Suigetsu rolled his eyes before chucking the box to her and tutting.

"I hope you find some way to _lend_ me that cigarette back."

"Oh, I don't know."

"Huh?"

Karin casually stood directly in front of him as she lit her smoke, taking a draw as she tucked her hot pink lighter back into the pocket of her leather jacket. Then, quickly, she pulled Suigetsu's head down to her own height before breathing the grey coils of smoke against his lips and into his mouth.

That was unexpected. And sexy. And Karin did that to him.

The white haired teenager inhaled the smoke from her lips in their strange lip tap before releasing it in a short puff from his lips into the air above them. He nodded casually, "Wasn't expecting that." He grinned after a short moment of silence.

Karin giggled, "Well, you did say you wanted it back!"

"That wasn't what I meant—" Suigetsu grinned, but stopped in mid-sentence to stare at the redhead, who reached up once again to hold the back of his neck, her fingers toying with his silky snowy strands of hair. She eyed him darkly, waiting for him to consent to her touch and… do something. "Karin, I thought you hated me. Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?"

The redhead retracted her hand from his hair and stepped back to lean against the red brick wall of the Uchiha's suburban home, bringing the cigarette to her lips again and taking a slow drag before responding. "I don't know." She said bluntly, her tone quieter than it had been around him before. It had always been commanding and harsh towards him. Suigetsu stared straight at her, waiting for her to continue, "I guess," she said, "it could be the drink."

The white haired teenager sighed before laughing weakly, "Nah, you want me."

"I don't know, Suigetsu. Like, you annoy the fuck out of me all the time—"

"You're not so pleasant yourself."

Karin ignored this, "But when I'm not with you, not being annoyed by you – I just _think _about you annoying me. You know?"

"Uh…"

"It's hard to explain." She ended, blushing a tiny _tiny _bit.

"You don't like me?"

"N-no?" Karin seemed taken aback by the question. Suigetsu's amethyst orbs stared nonchalantly at her for a long moment.

"That's a shame, Karin." He said dimly, "Because I think I like you." And with this, he crushed his cigarette against the underside of the wooden outdoor chair upon which he had been sat before throwing the butt into the crate of sand against the wall. Sasuke's father had a horrible smoking habit which Sasuke had unfortunately managed to pick up when he met Suigetsu.

He got up and began to take some slow steps forward, waiting (hoping) she might say something… that she might actually like him back because the two of them were both BLATANTLY Noah and Ally out of the Notebook.

And no. He did not just think that. Idiot brain.

"Suigetsu," Karin's harsh voice was back. The white haired teen whirled around to find her standing directly behind him. He stared at her.

She stared back.

"I do like you."

"Then why are you such a bitch to me all the time?" Suigetsu almost whispered, their proximity was so close.

"Because I…" _Don't want to get hurt _would have been the end of Karin's sentence if Suigetsu hadn't leant down and kissed her suddenly, fully on the mouth.

"Let's go out sometime, alright?" Suigetsu suggested when he pulled back, then continued his casual stroll back into the house, a terrible grin on his face. He was the man~~

* * *

**Notes: **Well, the song didn't really fit as well with the story as I'd planned. FUCK YOU MUSE, FUCK YOU. My brain is being really horrible whenever I start to write a chapter/one-shot these days. Ugh, go away writer's block. You're not wanted here. Thank you for reading – please review! Oh, and that was Curse of Curves by Cute Is What We Aim For.


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